Friday, July 20, 2018

"Art thou he that should come?" - God, a Product of Men, or Civilization, a product of God?


High-school baseball game, around Tokyo


God, a Product of Men, or Civilization, a product of God?

Is God a product of human mind work?  Or is the human mind a product by God?

Some might even argue that God is a product of the Bible, the Koran, or religion.  Others may claim that God did not exists until the mankind created the concept of God. 

For example, the sun is not a product by work of the human mind.  The sun exists and existed always on human beings in the sky before and after the emergence of the mankind.  But who ever saw God in the sky?

The key issue is that God cannot be seen by everybody like the sun in the sky.  How could we believe any entity whose existence cannot be seen by anybody?  We cannot see minds of others, but we could feel minds of others through their behaviors, facial expressions, their vocal expressions, etc.  But can we really feel God through natural or social phenomena?

Most of people, including the Pope and other church leaders, cannot feel God beyond reasonable doubt.  However, there are may people, including the Pope and other church leaders, earn money by pretending that they surely feel God.  However, their seeing God has never been proved objectively in a scientific manner.

On the other hand, it is almost 100% clear through long history that men cannot deny the existence of God beyond reasonable doubt.  Nobody has ever succeeded in proving non-existence of God objectively in a scientific manner.

Or should more centuries or thousand years pass till the mankind acquire ability to definitely prove existence or non-existence of God?

Today's civilization of the mankind, which has been mostly driven by Christian or Judaist Europeans and their descendants, is based on respect to God of Christianity and Judaism.  Even peripheral Arabs and other Muslims accept the God of Christianity and Judaism while joining the civilization.

How can the mankind build this civilization based on a wrong concept of God?  In this context, this civilization of the mankind rather belong to God than the mankind themselves.  Indeed, all the Gold and Silver in this world belong to God, in addition to the civilization.   

The mankind cannot even see this civilization from a viewpoint of God as well as they cannot see God yet.
 


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Luk 7:19 And John calling unto him two of his disciples sent them to Jesus, saying, Art thou he that should come? or look we for another?
Luk 7:20 When the men were come unto him, they said, John Baptist hath sent us unto thee, saying, Art thou he that should come? or look we for another?
Luk 7:21 And in that same hour he cured many of their infirmities and plagues, and of evil spirits; and unto many that were blind he gave sight.

Sunday, July 15, 2018

"Hearken unto me" - Enter through the Narrow Gate


Shinjuku, Tokyo 

Enter through the Narrow Gate

If a dog can think of God, it will assume that God is a kind of dog.

If a cat can think of God, it will suppose that God is a kind of cat.  If a bad man can think of God, he can at most think that God is a kind of bad man.  If an abnormal man can think about God, he must think that God is a kind of abnormal man.

But, as Christ Jesus is a righteous man, He can see that God is super righteous.

So, the Bible says, "Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and many enter through it.  But small is the gate and narrow the way that leads to life, and only a few find it ." 

To love a dog or a cat is a kind of wide and broad way to be reciprocally pleased psychologically.  Bur to love a righteous man or a holy man is a narrow gate to get satisfaction in return, since you must always feel how bad and mean you are while facing such a man.

In other word, do not trust a popular man.  A popular priest is a kind of contradictory expression.  Christ Jesus must have been also a narrow gate for ancient Jewish people, even though thousands admitted that He was a holy man who could exercise miracles. 


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Mar 7:14 And when he had called all the people unto him, he said unto them, Hearken unto me every one of you, and understand:
Mar 7:15 There is nothing from without a man, that entering into him can defile him: but the things which come out of him, those are they that defile the man.

Sunday, July 08, 2018

"in vain do they worship me" - Finite Human Beings and Infinite God

Tokyo subway

Finite Human Beings and Infinite God

Is God infinite?

As the definition of God is almighty, God can have all the features that can be imagined or thought in the human mind.   As the infinitude can be imagined by the human mind, God must be able to meet this condition.

In other word, if God is not infinite, whoever is infinite surpass ability of God.  But nobody can surpass God who is almighty, since there cannot be anybody who is more than almighty.

But what should be the relationship between the finite human beings and infinite God?  From the beginning, how can the human beings see God?  In other word, how can the finite human beings understand infinite God?  The human beings should be puzzled if they think of God and would tell anything groundless about God.

So, the human beings can understand God only to the extent where God allows the human beings to understand Him.  The words of Christ Jesus should be reviewed from this standpoint without establishing dubious theology such as the Holy Trinity.



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Mar 7:7 Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.
Mar 7:8 For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like things ye do.

Friday, July 06, 2018

"he loveth our nation" - Living Standard of Christ Jesus


Tokyo Railroad

Living Standard of Christ Jesus

Christ Jesus was a carpenter:
Mark 6:3
Isn’t this the carpenter? Isn’t this Mary’s son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon? Aren’t his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him.
He was not a farmer, a merchant, an official, a teacher, a scholar or a priest.  He was also neither a homeless nor a politician.  It means He was neither very poor nor very rich.  We may as well regard Him as positioned in the lower middle class of the society at the time.

But, according to mainstream interpretation of the Gospels, Christ Jesus suddenly one day started to act as a wandering or traveling priest, healer, prophet, and saint, leaving his life as a carpenter.  An ex-carpenter saint, this is Christ Jesus, but the Vatican and the Christian leaders have not attached importance to this fact.

In other word, all the Christian leaders, priests, and scholars should start their career as a carpenter or the like.  Then, they might catch any glimpse of the secret of Christianity or Christ Jesus.

In the Kingdom of God, there must be no poor men and no rich men.  But all the people in the Kingdom must enjoy the living standard allowed for carpenters who lived 2000 years ago in Palestine.

Contrarily,  Moses enjoyed the status of a leader of a tribe; the Buddha was a prince of a kingdom of India, Confucius asked for a high status in kingdoms of China, and Muhammad was a successful merchant.  They all enjoyed material living at a higher level than that allowed for a mere carpenter.

The carpenter might be a line Christians are not allowed to step over.  If your living standard converted to that in society 2000 years ago was higher than that of a carpenter, you might not be admitted to Heaven. 




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Luk 7:4 And when they came to Jesus, they besought him instantly, saying, That he was worthy for whom he should do this:
Luk 7:5 For he loveth our nation, and he hath built us a synagogue.
Luk 7:6 Then Jesus went with them. And when he was now not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to him, saying unto him, Lord, trouble not thyself: for I am not worthy that thou shouldest enter under my roof:

Wednesday, July 04, 2018

"when he heard of Jesus" - God in the Universe and the Bible


Tokyo Station

God in the Universe and the Bible

One concrete and definitive fact is that this universe was generated or created about 14 billion years ago.

Of course, there were no human beings 14 billion years ago when the universe was created.  And, it was 4.6 billion years ago that the earth was formed.  Of course, there were no human beings 4.6 billion years ago when the universe was created.   And it is believed that it was just 200,000 years ago that the current human beings were established.  And, it was just 2,000 years ago that Christ Jesus appeared among human beings as the Son of God.

If the purpose of the God was to create human beings to which He should send His Son, why did He have to take this long and complicated process from the creation of the universe to creation of the current human beings who deserve receiving the Son of God?

Anyway, this universe has been existent without human beings and their faith in God for almost 14 billion years, whereas we had faith in God through Christ Jesus only for 2,000 years.  So, God is so patient to achieve His goal to see the faith in Him among the human beings.  But of course, the sense about time  is different from the human beings and God.

The time between the creation of the universe and the appearance of Christ Jesus might be just one hour or two for God.  And He might already see the future of the human beings and the universe.

Nonetheless we have only the Bible with which to think of God.  If we observe anywhere in the universe and explore any past era in the history of the universe, we cannot see God except in the Bible.  In addition, Christ Jesus said that human beings could access God only through Him.



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Luk 7:2 And a certain centurion's servant, who was dear unto him, was sick, and ready to die.
Luk 7:3 And when he heard of Jesus, he sent unto him the elders of the Jews, beseeching him that he would come and heal his servant.
Luk 7:4 And when they came to Jesus, they besought him instantly, saying, That he was worthy for whom he should do this:

Tuesday, July 03, 2018

"For the Pharisees, and all the Jews" - Christ Jesus and God


Tokyo Station

Christ Jesus and God

What is peculiar about Christ Jesus, since there were many similar teachers of Judaism before and after Christ Jesus?

Christ Jesus worked miracles.  Christ Jesus was persecuted, apprehended, took to court, sentenced to death, and executed by Roman authority in Jerusalem in collusion with Judaism leaders.  Christ Jesus was resurrected and vanished away.  Christ Jesus appeared to Paul to convert him.  And, Christ Jesus disappeared from the history.

And, there have been no other verifiable stories about Christ Jesus to date.

As a result, today 2000 years after the emergence of Christ Jesus, billions of people believe, revere or respect Christ Jesus.  And, the main stream Western civilization in these 2000 years has been established based on Christianity.  But, none can explain why Christ Jesus succeeded in establishing the religion Christianity reasonably or prevailing His words and teaching all over the world.  And, still none can explain what He was, although the Vatican has identified Christ Jesus as God of the Holy Trinity.

There can be many and various levels of human understanding of Christ Jesus.  Some say that Christ Jesus was a trickster, a failed priest, or an abnormal teacher.  But others say that Christ Jesus was a prophet, a saint, a holy man, or an man inspired by a holy spirit.  The Vatican says Christ Jesus was God of the Holy Trinity, while many Bible readers know that Gospels mostly describe Christ Jesus as the Son of God.

But, Christ Jesus called Himself the son of man, which looks like having called Himself as a very special ordinary man.  But everybody suspected that Christ Jesus had a certain direct relationship with God. 

Anyway, Christ Jesus looked as a man and behaved as a man as the Gospels reported.  He did not have three eyes or four arms.  As a living thing, He was a member of human species.

But, Christ Jesus must have been of His own type, class or group.  Or the human species should be divided into Christ Jesus and all the others.  We know well about the relationship between all the others, except Christ Jesus, and God.  But who knows the relationship between Christ Jesus and God?




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Mar 7:1 Then came together unto him the Pharisees, and certain of the scribes, which came from Jerusalem.
Mar 7:2 And when they saw some of his disciples eat bread with defiled, that is to say, with unwashen, hands, they found fault.
Mar 7:3 For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, except they wash their hands oft, eat not, holding the tradition of the elders.

Saturday, June 23, 2018

"The light of the body is the eye" - The Fates of the Universe and Human Souls

Around the Governmental District, Tokyo

The Fates of the Universe and Human Souls

Christ Jesus never talked about the end of the universe although He mentioned the end of this world or the human world.  But what becomes of this universe, including the earth, the sun, the Milky Way, and other galaxies?
The fate of the universe is determined by its density. The preponderance of evidence to date, based on measurements of the rate of expansion and the mass density, favors a universe that will continue to expand indefinitely, resulting in the "Big Freeze" scenario below.[8] However, observations are not conclusive, and alternative models are still possible. 
The Big Freeze is a scenario under which continued expansion results in a universe that asymptotically approaches absolute zero temperature.[10] This scenario, in combination with the Big Rip scenario, is currently gaining ground as the most important hypothesis.[11] It could, in the absence of dark energy, occur only under a flat or hyperbolic geometry. With a positive cosmological constant, it could also occur in a closed universe. In this scenario, stars are expected to form normally for 1012 to 1014 (1–100 trillion) years, but eventually the supply of gas needed for star formation will be exhausted. As existing stars run out of fuel and cease to shine, the universe will slowly and inexorably grow darker. Eventually black holes will dominate the universe, which themselves will disappear over time as they emit Hawking radiation.[12] Over infinite time, there would be a spontaneous entropy decrease by the Poincaré recurrence theorem, thermal fluctuations,[13][14] and the fluctuation theorem.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultimate_fate_of_the_universe#Flat_universe
In addition, it is believed that protons, cores of atoms and substance or material, will spontaneously collapse in 10^31 to 10^36, namely years of about 10 raised to the power of 33.  Then there will be no atoms, substance, material, stars, rocks, liquids, gases, and living things.

But God exists.  Heaven exists and the hell must exist, too.  There will be no human souls in this universe in the very distant future.  But souls to whom eternal life is given by God will live forever in Heaven above this future frozen universe without any atoms.



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Mat 6:22 The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.
Mat 6:23 But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!

Monday, June 18, 2018

"not lawful for thee to have thy brother's wife" - Righteousness in front of Others


An Old Imperial Picture Gallery in Tokto

Righteousness in front of Others

Christ Jesus gave unique advice on how to behave in good faith:
Matthew 6 New International Version (NIV)
Giving to the Needy
6 “Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.
Satan hates righteous people and those who act according to their faith in God.  Satan also uses bad men to attack people doing good.  To protect righteous people, did Christ Jesus tell His followers not to display their righteousness in an open manner?  However, Christ Jesus also said not to hide a lamp without putting it under the bed, meaning to present faith in God in an open manner.

Doing good also attracts attention of ordinary people.  They might admire the goodness or the courage for others to show righteous in an open manner.  However, there are some among ordinary people who really want to behave good and show their goodness to other people and the public, but for some complicated reasons who could not get a chance to display their righteousness to the public and God.  So, it is natural they envy those who can show their righteousness to the public and God so openly without worrying about difficult situations.

It might be a very rare case, but if it happened, it might mean such a man deprived of such a chance is in a very complicated and serious situation.  Someone who wishes to be recognized or praised by God through his righteousness would regret his lack of a chance to appeal to God while others are openly or easily obtaining God's and pubic attention through bold acts of doing good.  This state could lead to less love to those who practice their righteousness in front of others. 
 
So, for peace among people and even among faithful people, Christ Jesus recommends His followers not to openly or proudly show one's righteousness to others.  This means that Christ Jesus never neglects sensitive nature of the human mind.


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Mar 6:18 For John had said unto Herod, It is not lawful for thee to have thy brother's wife.
Mar 6:19 Therefore Herodias had a quarrel against him, and would have killed him; but she could not:

Friday, June 15, 2018

"It is John, whom I beheaded" - Christ Jesus a Septillion, but God Infinity


Haneda, Tokyo

Christ Jesus a Septillion, but God Infinity

There has been great misunderstanding about who and what Christ Jesus was.

It also caused great confusion among people as Christian Leaders started to call Christ Jesus God around the 4th to 5th centuries.  Those leaders also established the church system where those who could not admit that Christ Jesus was God were expelled out of churches.

However, as time went by, most of Christians, namely European Christians, came not to regard Christ Jesus as God, but they started to know who and what person Christ Jesus was.  If they had simply believed that Christ Jesus was God, there should not have been such a great volume of books about Christ Jesus, Christianity, and religions since Martin Luther started the Protestantism.  And, if Christ Jesus had been God, there should not have been any room for Islam to emerge.

If Christ Jesus had been God, even the name Christ Jesus should have been abolished and people should have simply used the name God.  If God had come to this world, why should people call God by a different name such as Jesus?  It must be insult on God and a blasphemy.

The evil of this world was intensified as people started to call someone that was not God God, even though for human beings that somebody was great enough to be regarded as God.

For example, if a man is one or two in number, Christ Jesus was a trillion times a trillion (a septillion), but God is infinity.


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Mar 6:16 But when Herod heard thereof, he said, It is John, whom I beheaded: he is risen from the dead.
Mar 6:17 For Herod himself had sent forth and laid hold upon John, and bound him in prison for Herodias' sake, his brother Philip's wife: for he had married her.

Thursday, June 14, 2018

"Simon, (whom he also named Peter,)" - Christ Jesus' Traces after the Resurrection


Around the Tokyo Station 

Christ Jesus' Traces after the Resurrection

It is a common sense even among Christian leaders that Christ Jesus, after the Resurrection or after coming back to life, went out to somewhere on this earth but not ascended to Heaven physically, although the Bible stated His disciples watched him ascending to the sky and Heaven.

Even if He had ascended to the sky, Christ Jesus should have landed on the earth somewhere, because it must have been impossible for a man to fly in the sky forever or fly to the moon or Mars and live there forever, from a viewpoint of science.

Christ Jesus went and lived somewhere secretly without being noticed by Romans, Jewish priests, and early Christians or even by His family or relatives.  However, due to faith and respect for Christian leaders and Gospel authors, nobody has ever sincerely checked and investigated true tracks and footsteps of Christ Jesus after the Crucifixion and Resurrection.

However, Christ Jesus was the Son of God or a kind of God, so that there must have been at least traces of His later life in the human history.   For reference, the following incidents are recorded in the first century part of Wikipedia:
c. AD 33: The Crucifixion of Jesus (traditional date).[9][10][11]
c. AD 33–36: Conversion of Paul the Apostle.[12][13][14]
AD 40: Succession crisis erupts at King Cunobeline's court and his exiled younger son Prince Adminius flees to the court of Caligula in Rome.
AD 40: Emperor Caligula plans to invade Britain, but forgets to bring an army, he instead declares war upon the sea, whipping it and taking shells as prisoners.
AD 40–43: Revolts erupts in Vietnam by the Trung sisters.
AD 42: King Cunobeline dies, his son Caratacus becomes King. He and his brother conquer much of South-Eastern England, expanding territory into Atrebates, driving out King Verica. King Verica travels to Rome to the court of Claudius to help reclaim his throne.
AD 43: Roman conquest of Britain begins. London is founded (although it could have existed centuries before this date).
AD 44: Death of Herod Agrippa.
AD 41–54: Rachias, an ambassador sent from Sri Lanka to the court of Claudius.
Buddhist monks in Sri Lanka first write down Buddha's teachings, creating the Pali canon.
The regions of present-day Afghanistan, Pakistan and North India come under the control of the Kushans, a nomadic people forced out of northwest China by the Han Dynasty.
Tacitus mentions the Suiones, who will one day be called the Swedes.

The Goths settle in northern Poland, which they called Gothiscandza, and shape the Wielbark culture.
c. AD 50: Christian Council of Jerusalem.
Mid-1st century – Wall niche, from garden in Pompeii, is made. It is now kept at Fitzwilliam Museum, University of Cambridge, England.
Mid-1st century – Detail of a wall painting in the House of M. Lucretius Fronto, Pompeii, is made.

AD 60: Queen Boudica of The Iceni in England launches a rebellion against The Romans. Tens of thousands die and the Roman army is massively damaged. The Rebellion fails and Boadicea commits suicide by poisoning herself. Three major cities are obliterated.
AD 64: Great Fire of Rome, first Roman mass Persecution of Christians, earliest significant recognition of Christians in Rome.
AD 66–73: First Jewish-Roman War.
AD 69: Cartimandua, Queen of the Brigantes in Northern England, is overthrown in a civil war. Her unpopular alliance with Rome, the betrayal of Caratacus and her love for someone other than her husband are the three reasons which led to her demise. The Action enraged the Romans so much that they conquered and annexed The Kingdom.
AD 70: destruction of Herod's Temple in Jerusalem by the Romans under Titus.
AD 79: Pompeii and Herculaneum destroyed by eruption of Mount Vesuvius.
AD 80: The Colosseum is finished.
Jewish Council of Jamnia.
Spread of the Roman Empire, reaches largest size under Trajan.
So, we may suppose that Christ Jesus was around Damascus around AD 33 to 36.  He was in Jerusalem around AD 44 and 50.  But Christ Jesus moved to Rome around 64.  And then He went back to Palestine and Jerusalem around AD 66 to 70.  But He further traveled to the Italian Peninsula around AD 79.  But finally where did He go and died to put the end to His life as a human being?

It can be also thought that Christ Jesus traveled to Sri Lanka and North India in the interval period of His major travelling around the Mediterranean to help development of Buddhism.

However, in my theory, Christ Jesus moved to the Arabic regions to prepare for the emergence of Islam centuries later.  So, His real tomb might find in the Arabian Peninsula or around a mountain near Mecca in the Hejazi region of Saudi Arabia where Muhammad is said to have spent a great deal of time in the cave meditating; and it is widely believed that it was here that he received his first revelation (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jabal_al-Nour#Cave_of_Hira).


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Luk 6:13 And when it was day, he called unto him his disciples: and of them he chose twelve, whom also he named apostles;
Luk 6:14 Simon, (whom he also named Peter,) and Andrew his brother, James and John, Philip and Bartholomew,
Luk 6:15 Matthew and Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon called Zelotes,
Luk 6:16 And Judas the brother of James, and Judas Iscariot, which also was the traitor.

Monday, June 11, 2018

"they were filled with madness" - Gain the Whole World, Yet Forfeit One's Soul



Around the National Diet Bldg., Tokyo

Gain the Whole World, Yet Forfeit One's Soul

One of the most impressive words of Christ Jesus is: What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?
For this reason, did not Christ Jesus gain the whole world but He lived as a humble saint?

This can apply to the case that one wishes to be rich or successful in any fields of the human world while not putting the highest priority on his faith in God.  And, if he succeeded in becoming rich or achieving great attainments in any field of the human society, there is no good because he would surely forfeit his soul.

The measure of one's success in his life is not success in terms of the worldly sense but success in developing and deepening his faith in God.  The criterion in one's life is not how much one has earned money or how much one got promotion in the social order, but how much one has loved God, enriched his faith in God, and grasped the meaning of the words of God.

Rich men and successful men can be easily found because they will be famous and prominent.  But the true value of human beings has nothing to do with such status.  But men with true value without forfeiting their souls can be found in non-rich and non-successful men.  This is the truth of the word of Jesus.

And this word taught by Christ Jesus 2000 years ago has been valid and real to date.  In any era or any society, this word has been true and effective.  No matter what technology human beings have developed, this simple expression cannot be changed.  The teachings of Christ Jesus are above any human technology and science.

Or, put simply, what good is it if anyone becomes U.S. President but he forfeits his soul?


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Luk 6:11 And they were filled with madness; and communed one with another what they might do to Jesus.
Luk 6:12 And it came to pass in those days, that he went out into a mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God.

Sunday, June 10, 2018

"Stretch forth thy hand. And he did so" - If Without Belief in God and Heaven/the Hell


Tokyo Station

If Without Belief in God and Heaven/the Hell

If you don't believe God and the existence of Heaven and the hell, this world is everything for you.  You will put all of your energy to this world without thinking about anything about God and the existence of Heaven and the hell.

You will mind everything you have done, seen, and experienced because you cannot imagine anything about God and the existence of Heaven and the hell.  You will deny or hate every prohibitive power against evil.  You must think that nothing should stop you or nobody has a right to stop you.

But you know what has power in this world.  That is why you love money and accept the rule by money in this world.  You may evaluate everything in this world in terms of the money amount to which it is converted.  And then you will become a fool or a mad man in the end.  Because you will come to neglect every spiritual wisdom and human values, since money is positioned at the highest place in your value system, while all gold and silver in this world belong to God. 

So, those who don't believe God and the existence of Heaven and the hell act more passionately than humble believers of God who are afraid of God.  If you fear that God might get angry at you, provided that you are devoted to worldly matters and profits or wealth, you might become awkward or cautious in handling and dealing with money and other worldly things.    But if you are not afraid of God as you don't believe His existence, you will be more absorbed and enthusiastic in pursuit of worldly success.

That is why Hitler and some others who are so bad and evil can succeed to some extent for some period of time.

And, Trump might be one of them. 

Satan might say to Trump one night, "Look at this figure of huge trade deficits of the U.S.  You can be greater if you raise tariffs.  Americans will respect you if you exercise your legitimate administrative power to raise tariffs.  Rich America can be richer, while stupid, evil, and poor countries abusing the US will become poorer!  It is a right thing to fight Canada, Mexico, the EU, and other so-called allies but to help Russia!"  And Trump must appreciate this crazy advice from Satan.  


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Luk 6:10 And looking round about upon them all, he said unto the man, Stretch forth thy hand. And he did so: and his hand was restored whole as the other.
Luk 6:11 And they were filled with madness; and communed one with another what they might do to Jesus.

Tuesday, June 05, 2018

"the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath" - The Early Days of the Church in the Roman Empire

 
Tokyo

The Early Days of the Church in the Roman Empire

No one denied the existence of God in Palestine 2000 year ago.  This is the first thing you have to understand when you read the Bible.

But people also believe existence of Satan and evil spirits, which is not commonly observed in today's world, especially in the Western world.

When Christ Jesus appeared in this world, everybody believed existence of God and Satan.  But, they did not simply believe that Christ Jesus was the Son of God.  So, incidents depicted in the Gospels occurred.

Centuries after in the Roman Empire, Christian leaders must have been harassed by guilt because people, although in Jerusalem centuries ago, helped the execution of Christ Jesus.  The fact that human beings killed the Son of God must have tortured them even if they were living in Rome in the fourth or fifth century.  It must have bee so, because they believed existence of God and Satan truly unlike today's people in Europe and the US.

But this sense of gilt led these Christian leaders to a state of insanity.  It was too grave issue that God had sent His Son to this world but people had executed Him.  They could not spend a day without a fear of God.  But instead of asking forgiveness to God, they started to force Jewish people to accept responsibility.  Furthermore, they started to teach new comers to church that men were born with sins, so that they had to always feel a sense of guilty before God, though, not for the past execution of Christ Jesus but for abnormally complicated and roundabout reasons they could not understand.  They also started to call Christ Jesus God of Trinity, which they could not understand, either.  Finally, the creed and philosophy of Christianity was established from the fourth to fifth century in the Roman Empire.

But God disliked this movement.  So He destroyed the empire soon after the church leaders established the biased and almost insane creed such as Holy Trinity.   What's more, God gave Islam to people in the Middle East outside the Empire.

Today's world stands on extension of this trend.  Indeed, less and less Christians have come to rely on God and hate Satan.  Muslims rely on God and hate Satan more than Christian Europeans and Americans.  This shows the effect of the anger of God delivered before the collapse of the Roman Empire.

So, to correct today's world with full of evil situations, people have to get back to the early days of the church in the Roman Empire.




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Luk 6:4 How he went into the house of God, and did take and eat the shewbread, and gave also to them that were with him; which it is not lawful to eat but for the priests alone?
Luk 6:5 And he said unto them, That the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath.

Monday, June 04, 2018

"let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth" - Friend in Prison on the Border to North Korea


Tokyo, the National Diet Bldg. and the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Dept. Bldg. 

Friend in Prison on the Border to North Korea

Once a North Korean family escaped from the horribly poor and repressive nation to China.

They could survive for some time in peace.  His father could find a job somewhat.  But one day, a Chinese woman living nearby looked at his father thoughtfully in  evil atmosphere and asked him to carry vases with water in for her.  His father rejected it.

Then, a week or so later, several Chinese police men surrounded the house of the defecting family.  They arrested the family members and intimidated them, saying that they would be forcibly sent back to North Korea.

The youth was convinced that the Chinese woman dobbed his family into the police.  However, his father had one friend living nearby who was doing his business well.  This friend had once often visited their house when they had been in North Korea.  His father asked this friend to lend him some money to buy freedom of his family.  And, with this money, the family could persuade an officer of the prison they were in to let them flee from the prison and the town.   

And after a long and hard journey, the family could get out of China and enter South Korea.  Then, the family sent twice or more the amount of money they had borrowed from their old friend in the Chinese town on the border to North Korea.  It is because they had known that they should have been executed by the North Korean police if they had been sent back to the country under the dictatorship.

There must be hundreds of similar stories in the border area between China and North Korea.

Indeed, Christ Jesus said to visit your friend in prison some time.




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Mat 6:3 But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth:
Mat 6:4 That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.

Friday, June 01, 2018

" and came into his own country" - Old and Classic Holy Books


A Public Park around Tokyo

Old and Classic Holy Books

It is truly remarkable that some books having been written centuries ago, 1,000 years ago, 2,000 years ago, or 2,500 years ago have still effective influence on people of today.

These holy books handle humanity.  But as humanity has not changed in these centuries, 1,000 years, 2,000 years, or 2,500 years, the teaching in these books have still appealing power to people of today.

For example, if it is written that Christ Jesus talked to a sick man to heal him, we can feel love in the behavior of Christ Jesus, although today many modern medications are available.  No matter how much our material environments and lives change or get modernized, the most important issue for us has never changed.  It is how we feel and think about ourselves, other people, and the world.  It is matters in our hearts and minds that are really counted.

These books are all concerned with our minds and hearts or our lives.  Even in this modernized and well developed world, people are born, study, work, retire, get old or sick, and finally die.  The value along which we think of our lives and the world has not changed for thousands of years.

However, if there is God who gives life to each of us and governs fates of each one, our life must look so simple to Him.  We are just those who were born and die someday while God exists forever. 

So, it might be necessary for us to view or read those holy books from a viewpoint of God.  At least, we must understand that what mattered to human beings  centuries ago, 1,000 years ago, 2,000 years ago, or 2,500 years ago is still important to us.  Therefore, we may be rather able to find and realize what is important to human beings by reading these holy books, since we could clearly see what is still effective in their contents through a filter of time of centuries or thousand years.   

Truly, Christ Jesus looks as if He is talking to us today.


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Mar 6:1 And he went out from thence, and came into his own country; and his disciples follow him.
Mar 6:2 And when the sabbath day was come, he began to teach in the synagogue: and many hearing him were astonished, saying, From whence hath this man these things? and what wisdom is this which is given unto him, that even such mighty works are wrought by his hands?

Monday, May 28, 2018

"rose up, and followed him" - Christian Essenes or Essene Christians


Tokyo

Christian Essenes or Essene Christians

Without hard training for a substantial time period, you cannot become a top athlete.  Without hard training for a substantial time period, you cannot become a top professional in any field.

So, where had Christ Jesus been trained before He started His mission among people?  There must have been a suitable place for training for His difficult mission to guide people, educate people, save people, and cause miracles.  Nazareth could not be the place, since when Christ Jesus visited this family town, people of Nazareth tried to kill Him.  It meant He had nothing to do with people in the town, although he must have been welcomed if people of the town had known him training there for a long time before His starting the holy mission. 

The place must have been in a special religious atmosphere with some religious enthusiasts.  But it must not have belonged to the main stream of Judaism, since Christ Jesus started a revolutionary mission. 

Put short, the place must be Qumran on a hill facing the Dead Sea where many religious scrolls were discovered around 1947 after WWII.  It was as if God had allowed these scrolls to be discovered with a sense of blessing as Jewish people started to return to Palestine.
The Essenes have gained fame in modern times as a result of the discovery of an extensive group of religious documents known as the Dead Sea Scrolls, which are commonly believed to be the Essenes' library. These documents preserve multiple copies of parts of the Hebrew Bible untouched from possibly as early as 300 BCE until their discovery in 1946.

Josephus later gave a detailed account of the Essenes in The Jewish War (c. 75 CE), with a shorter description in Antiquities of the Jews (c. 94 CE) and The Life of Flavius Josephus (c. 97 CE). Claiming firsthand knowledge, he lists the Essenoi as one of the three sects of Jewish philosophy [7] alongside the Pharisees and the Sadducees. He relates the same information concerning piety, celibacy, the absence of personal property and of money, the belief in communality, and commitment to a strict observance of Sabbath. He further adds that the Essenes ritually immersed in water every morning, ate together after prayer, devoted themselves to charity and benevolence, forbade the expression of anger, studied the books of the elders, preserved secrets, and were very mindful of the names of the angels kept in their sacred writings.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Essenes
Christ Jesus must have been trained by the Essenes around Qumran.  Indeed, after the Jewish-Roman war, the Essenes disappeared from Qumran, hiding some scrolls in vases put in caves.  It somewhat matched the fact that Christian Jewish people also disappeared after the war, and only followers of Paul and Peter survived to establish Christianity.  Early Christians included Christian Jewish people living around Jerusalem and Christian Essenes or Essene Christians living around Qumran. 


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Luk 5:27 And after these things he went forth, and saw a publican, named Levi, sitting at the receipt of custom: and he said unto him, Follow me.
Luk 5:28 And he left all, rose up, and followed him.
Luk 5:29 And Levi made him a great feast in his own house: and there was a great company of publicans and of others that sat down with them.

Wednesday, May 23, 2018

"Thy sins be forgiven thee" - The Holocaust Causality Revealed


Tokyo Subway

The Holocaust Causality Revealed

The Roman Empire occupied Jerusalem, Palestine, Egypt, Syria, etc., 2000 years ago.  The fate of the Jewish people was at stake, since there was no assurance of survival of Jewish people and their religion, Judaism.

It was unthinkable that Judaism would influence the culture of Europe, which was at the time under control of the Roman Empire, except some norther areas today called Germany and North Europe for the next 2000 years.
Hebraism is just as important a factor in the development of Western civilization as Hellenism, and Judaism, as the mother religion of Christianity, has considerably shaped Western ideals and morality since the Christian Era.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judaism#Rabbinic_hermeneutics
As Jewish people made wars against the Empire in the first century only to be defeated and expelled from Jerusalem, indeed there was no assurance that they could survive for the next 2000 years to be in such status as we observe today.

But as the Roman Empire adopted Christianity explicitly rooted in Judaism, some ideas and traditions of Judaism came to be carried with Christianity into post-Roman Europe.  Whoever has learnt and had faith in Christianity has come to know existence of Jewish people and Judaism in these 2000 years.

Although it is emphasized that many Christians in Europe sometimes discriminated, suppressed, and even physically attacked Jewish people, not all the European Christians were biased against Jewish people. Therefore, there happened no total massacre and extirpation of the Jewish people. They did not disappear from the earth like many ancient tribes or the Neanderthalers.  In most cases, they must have been able to live rather peacefully along with Christians despite occasional tragedies.  

However, since they had been defeated by the Roman Empire and expelled out of Palestine, they did not try for real to return to Palestine and Jerusalem.  Although the Western Roman Empire collapsed in 476, Jewish people as a tribe did not try for real to go back to Palestine and Jerusalem. And the Eastern Roman Empire collapsed in 1453, Jewish people as a tribe did not try for real to go back to Palestine and Jerusalem.  Even before WWII when many Jewish people became somewhat rich and members of the middle class with enough resources to go back to Palestine and Jerusalem, they would not.  Then they were persecuted by Nazi Germany and millions of Jewish people were killed so unduly.  Only after this Holocaust incident, they for real tried to go back to Palestine and Jerusalem.  And the modern nation Israel was established in 1948.

But this fact is strange.  Judaism 2000 years ago or at the time of dispersion of Jewish people from Palestine, Judaism was rooted in the Jerusalem temple.  Even Christ Jesus regarded the temple as sacred.  If Jewish people had kept their true faith in God enshrined in the Jerusalem temple, they should have tried to go back to Jerusalem and rebuild their lives and a new temple there like the days before the conquest by Romans.  Then God should have been satisfied and given more blessing to Jewish people who would return to Jerusalem from Europe as soon as it became possible.  But as if God had been neglected, Jewish people continued to live in Europe and succeeded to be rich somewhat enough to be envied by Hitler and Nazi Germans.  So, it is as if Jewish people chose rich living in Europe than poor or hard living in Palestine.

This is a blasphemy.  While God let the Roman Empire perish, Jewish people did not try to return to Jerusalem to praise God.  But they were drinking, eating, dancing, and making money in post-Roman Europe.  It is no wonder that God got angry.  And then, the Holocaust occurred.

If God had expected thousands of Jewish people to return to Jerusalem every year since 476 or tens of thousands of people each year since 1453, the total number estimated by God as possible returnees would be millions.  And thus God requested sacrificed victims of millions of Jewish people in WWII before they came back to Palestine and established Israel in 1948.

From the view of the nature of God in the Old Testament, the theological
causal relationship between the Holocaust in WWII and Judaism is as stated above.  Consequently, if we accept this theory, we must believe that it is Jewish people themselves that has to be blamed for the Holocaust rather than Hitler and Nazi Germans.  And ultimately, it can be ascribed to wrath of God on Jewish people who had neglected the holy city Jerusalem for centuries.

God is indeed righteous and square to Jewish people as depicted in the Old Testament, while He gave such glory to Jewish people as the status of God's chosen people.

So, Jewish people should not blindly hate European Christians and especially Germans.  It should be also understood that the memory of the Holocaust cannot be any excuse for their cold and cruel attitudes to Arab neighbors, although Muslims should respect Jewish people as God's chosen people prior to Muhammad.


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Luk 5:21 And the scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, Who is this which speaketh blasphemies? Who can forgive sins, but God alone?
Luk 5:22 But when Jesus perceived their thoughts, he answering said unto them, What reason ye in your hearts?
Luk 5:23 Whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Rise up and walk?

Wednesday, May 16, 2018

"into the wilderness, and prayed" - Gaza and Holy Books


Tokyo

Gaza and Holy Books

Gaza is a place where Alexander the Great marched to Egypt, Cleopatra traveled from Egypt, and Caesar also passed with his troops went up from Egypt to Syria after conquest of Egypt, and probably Abraham and Christ Jesus walked.  Gaza is older than Rome, Paris. London, and New York.

So, it is deplorable that Gaza is still in a state of severe conflict involving Jewish people.  It looks as if human beings have not made any progress in humanity in these 4000 or 2000 years.

Human civilization has developed and global economic status has been upgraded, but fundamental conditions look unchanged.  Indeed, the Old and New Testaments could present meaningful stories and dramas to us even today.  None thinks that the Old and New Testaments are so old and obsolete and their contents loos significance to modern people.  There are millions and more people who daily refer to these holy books in their spiritual quests and study.

Even Muslims refer to the Koran written more than 1000 years ago.  No Muslims think that contents of their holy book are now outdated.  Voices are still vividly spoken to them from the Koran.  Teachings of the Koran are regarded as effective even today.

However, in this era of modern commercialism, people look to New York, London, Paris, and Rome for their money-making activities.  But not many people look to Gaza for any concern.

In other words, development of the human civilization in these 2000 years might be nothing when compared with significance of effectiveness of those old holy books found today.  It might mean that most parts of today's material civilization has been developed with help from Satan rather than from God.

So, in the extreme case, God might request people to give up the civilization of today and go back to the human status of 2000 years ago when Satan did not yet succeed in capturing so many people using temptation for money and wealth.


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Luk 5:16 And he withdrew himself into the wilderness, and prayed.
Luk 5:17 And it came to pass on a certain day, as he was teaching, that there were Pharisees and doctors of the law sitting by, which were come out of every town of Galilee, and Judaea, and Jerusalem: and the power of the Lord was present to heal them.

Sunday, May 13, 2018

"the unclean spirits went out, and entered into the swine" - Purpose of God's Creating this Universe



Around Nagoya, Japan

Purpose of God's Creating this Universe

The life duration of the sun is said to be about 10 billion years, although it has existed for about 4.5 billion years so far. 

But it does not mean that the earth can exist with living things for 5.5 billion years more, because the sun will become inflated as time goes by.  The sun will get larger so as for its surface to reach the earth's orbit around the sun.  It is expected that 1.75 billion years later the earth will be scorched due to the heat of the sun.  As the sun increases its volume, the heat from the sun growing larger will heat the earth so that all the living things on the earth will die down.

However, men might exit the earth to find another solar system and another sun suitable to live in, since there is the time of 1.75 billion years to prepare the exit from the earth and this solar system.

Today science tells that the earth has existed for about 4.5 billion years, although it has been only 1.8 million years since the species where human beings belong Homo sapiens was established.  And it has been only 250,000 years since human beings started to speak.  So, we had better worry about the future of the mankind in, say, 10,000 years or so.   But who can imagine the status of the mankind 10,000 years later or even 2,000 years later?

In this context, the belief that God appeared to Abraham 4,000 years ago and Moses 3,500 years ago, that the Son of God appeared to Jewish people 2,000 years ago, and even that an Angel gave words of God to Mohammed 1,300 years ago is important, since it is God who created this universe.  If the purpose of God's creating this universe is to create human beings who worship God, this purpose might be said to have been almost satisfied.  But why does God intend to create such human beings as worship Him, even if it has taken billions of years?  (For example, the age of the whole universe is 13.8 billion years.)

Is this is the most significant question for any intellectual species in this universe?  It is so since we cannot find any other reasons for God's creation of this universe.  It is also unthinkable that the human beings without faith in God, the Creator of this universe, can survive in the next 2,000 years, 10,000 years, or 1.75 billion years.

Anyway, no matter what the mankind will be, the earth will be scorched by the inflating sun in 1.75 billion years.  And, 5.5 billion years later, there will be no sun and no earth.  But God exists forever with or without the surviving mankind.  This is the root of the feeling of impermanence in human lives and thoughts.  Without faith in God, we cannot even sustain a sane state of our minds. 


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Mar 5:13 And forthwith Jesus gave them leave. And the unclean spirits went out, and entered into the swine: and the herd ran violently down a steep place into the sea, (they were about two thousand;) and were choked in the sea.

Thursday, May 10, 2018

"the draught of the fishes" - Ravens and Lilies


Tokyo
Ravens and Lilies

Christ Jesus never worked to earn money while He was preaching.

He was outside the worldly worry and fear that one might lose a job and ultimately became homeless if he failed in competition.  But He knew well this kind of worry people had.  This kind of worry and fear is also modern.  So, the following teaching of Christ Jesus is effective even today.
Luke 12
24 Look at the ravens. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for God feeds them. And you are far more valuable to him than any birds!  
27 “Look at the lilies and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing, yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. 28 And if God cares so wonderfully for flowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith?
Christ Jesus rather recommend always think about the Kingdom of God instead of living in this world.  If we do have faith and consider the Kingdom of God, God will surely feed us, according to the words of Christ Jesus.

People mostly think about how to earn more money and how to behave to get any promotion and social merit.  They don't think about how to contribute to coming of the Kingdom of God.  People worry that if they are absorbed in thinking of God, they will lose a chance to be rich.  To get rid of poverty or avoid fall in status in the society, they think that they have no time to think about God.

Christ Jesus put higher priority on faith in God.  And God will take care of those believers, according to Christ Jesus.  This is against human wisdom.  The human world has not been built so as to promote faith in God.  But it has been built so that winners will survive and succeed while losers will become poor and suffer.  Yet, God has power to supersede such worldly rule.  The faith in God means to believe such super power of God.

To become rich and successful in the society, one is often tempted in committing a crime or neglecting justice, or otherwise he will lose compassion to losers and love to neighbors.  And people will try to be smarter than others in purchase of wealth and profits or in exercise of evil tricks.  The total aggregation of these behaviors and thoughts will surely make this world a kind of the hell.  It will make this world a place not worth living. 

In this context, money is an enemy of God.  People should think about God but not money.

However, living of successful priests, including the Pope, is based on big money, which cannot be accepted by God.


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Luk 5:9 For he was astonished, and all that were with him, at the draught of the fishes which they had taken:
Luk 5:10 And so was also James, and John, the sons of Zebedee, which were partners with Simon. And Jesus said unto Simon, Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men.